1- Saltwater Goodbye
CLAIRE
Back then, I didn’t know it yet, but my life was about to change in ways I couldn’t imagine. I didn’t know what would happen, or how each choice I made today would shape everything tomorrow. All I knew was that I had to leave Los Angeles.
But even as I told myself that, I had no idea that this decision—to walk away from the city, from everything familiar—would turn out to be one of my biggest regrets.
My car moved slowly along the highway by the Pacific ocean. Rain hit the windshield, making it hard to see. The gray sky and wet road blurred the cliffs and waves. In that moment, everything seemed soft and unclear.
Everything in my life had fallen apart at once. I had just broken up with my Fiance of six years. It wasn’t just a casual breakup—he had been my whole life for so long that losing him felt like losing a part of myself.
On top of that, I got fired from my job, and it was because of him. My career in the LAPD, the thing I had worked for so long, was over—not because of my mistakes, but because of his actions, the choices he had made that dragged me down with him.
It turned out… Daniel Reeve was not the man I thought he was.
It turned out… Daniel Reeve was not the man I thought he was.
I had met Daniel six years ago on a case I was assigned to early in my career. He was confident and charming, the kind of person who made you feel safe even when everything around you was chaos. We worked long hours together, chasing leads, talking through evidence, and slowly, trust turned into friendship. That friendship eventually became love. I thought he was the one—the man I would spend my life with. I pictured us moving to a small town, settling down, building a life together. I never imagined living without him.
But then everything fell apart. Daniel made reckless choices I couldn’t control. He lied, hid deals, and broke rules—things that caught up with both of us. When the truth came out, I was blamed.
My name was dragged through rumors, accusations, and investigations I hadn’t done anything to deserve. Daniel’s mistakes, his secrets, and his betrayal directly ruined the career I had built for myself in the LAPD—the career I had loved, the job I had worked so hard to excel at.
To protect me from a public scandal, the head of the division,Captain Lawson —suggested I lay low for a while. He understood what had happened, that I had been implicated because of Daniel’s actions, not my own.
He even gave me a recommendation: a friend of his in a small town called Grayhaven was looking for a private detective to handle small local cases. It was nothing like the work I had done before, but it was a chance to start over.
I had no choice but to take it. I had nowhere else to go. Moving to a small town had always been a dream, but it had been a dream I imagined sharing with Daniel.
Now, for the first time, I had to think about my life without him—and that thought was harder than anything else I had faced.
I groaned, leaning back against the seat, pressing my palms against my eyes for a moment. My chest felt tight, I had been driving for hours, but it didn’t feel like the miles were getting me anywhere.
I tried to focus on the road, tried to keep my hands on the wheel, but the rain made it almost impossible. Thick drops blurred my view, streaking across the windshield as if the sky itself was crying.
Everything felt soft , like I was driving through a dream I didn’t want to wake from.
Then all of a sudden my tires slipped on a wet patch of road. My heart jumped, and I jerked the wheel sharply to the right. The car swung dangerously close to the guardrail, and I felt my stomach twist.
For a moment, the car seemed to hang there, caught between the slippery road and the drop to the rocks below. I slammed my foot on the brakes, feeling the tires fight for grip.
I took a deep breath, trying to slow the rapid thump of my heart, trying to remind myself that I was okay, that I hadn’t gone off the cliff. The rain fell harder, and I could barely see the road in front of me.
Every muscle in my body was tense, and I realized that maybe this little accident was more than just the slippery road.
Maybe it was a warning—maybe the ocean, the cliffs, the storm itself was telling me that I was heading into dangerous waters, and that life in Grayhaven wouldn’t be as simple as I hoped.
I slowed the car almost to a stop, at the side of the road. My forehead rested against the steering wheel as I tried to calm my fast, panicked thoughts.
Then I just sat there for a long moment, shaking and taking deep breaths. I couldn’t believe how close I had come. It just occurred to me,I had just almost died.
Then I saw it. At the edge of a foggy cliff, a dark figure stood perfectly still. Watching. I froze, my breath catching in my throat.
The figure didn’t move, didn’t shift, didn’t make a sound, but there was no mistaking it—someone was there. A shiver ran down my spine.
I held the steering wheel tighter, unsure what to do. Should I scream? Should I drive away fast? My mind was spinning with questions.
Was it real? Was someone really standing there, watching me?
The fog moved around the figure, hiding the cliff behind it, but the shape of the person—or thing—was clear.
My hands shook as I held the steering wheel. I tried to breathe slowly and calm down. But when I looked up, I saw the same dark figure standing at the edge of the cliff. They didn’t move or make a sound. They were just there, looking at me.
For the first time in many days, I felt very scared.